Hate and Love

"I have loved you," says the LORD. "Yet you say, 'In what way have You loved us?' Was not Esau Jacob's brother?" says the LORD. "Yet Jacob I have loved; ³ but Esau I have hated, and laid waste his mountains and his heritage for the jackals of the wilderness."

Malachi 1:2-3

Over the weekend a visiting pastor referenced this statement from the book of Malachi.  He said some people fault God for hating Esau, but they would do better to question his love of Jacob - the conniving, supplanting, deceitful heel-catcher!  God is not unrighteous to hate sin and those who commit abomination.  Yet God has shown mercy and grace to all through the sacrifice of His own Son, Jesus Christ.  His love for Jacob was all of grace.  Man cannot question God's sovereign choices, nor can man rightly blame God for any evil.  When we are faced with difficult questions or situations which seem impossible to reconcile, we should not abandon faith for what we do not know.  We are to cling to what God has divinely revealed of Himself through His Word, and hold it closer still.  When the divine wrestler touched Jacob's hip and put it out of joint, Jacob did not ask "Why did you do that?"  He hung on, desiring a blessing.  You know what?  He received it!

God's dealings with His people, His lofty thoughts, and His sovereign plans are far above our ability to understand in full.  It is natural to have questions when we face difficult seasons, trials, and persecutions.  It is hard when we have done our best to love others and are met with harsh opposition.  I know too well the sting of not meeting the expectations of others.  But I am so comforted by the unfailing truth of the Word of God:  "By the grace of God, I am what I am."  Anything which is praiseworthy, pure, wise, or good in me is solely by God's grace.  I rest easy in the knowledge that God does whatever He wants, because I know He will always do what is righteous.  Paul lays out the heart of the matter in Romans chapter 9, an echo of the heart expressed by godly Job:  "Though He slay me, yet I will trust in Him."

God is angry with the wicked every day, and one day will judge this world in righteousness.  Everyone will have to answer before God for every thought, word, and deed weighed against the unyielding law of God.  Even believers saved by grace through faith in Christ will be brought before His judgment seat.  Acts 17:30-31 reads, "Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, ³¹ because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead."  Through the resurrection we have assurance of Christ's divine power of life and also the assurance of judgment.  This truth goads us to do what God loves, not what He hates.  Praise God that He is a Redeemer, a Restorer of souls!  He has shown love to all people, for while we were still sinners Christ died for us.  It is important we remember our frail frame and humbly submit to God as slaves, serving one another in love.

Hang on, believer!  Lay hold of Him and do not let go!  The blessings of God sometimes come with a permanent limp.